Lily's portal was up in a flash, with Mark and Rylie jumping through the second it was live. They ran toward the front of the house, Mark throwing his coin at the door. It transformed into a battering ram milliseconds before impact, knocking the door into the house. A burst of black energy fired past his head. He heard Lily grunt and could sense the magic of the portal behind him disappear. The only senses now were the familiar fear of Mr. Henry and the sickly sour feeling of Modify magic.

Now, Mark and his partner were standing in the living room of Mr. Henry, stopped in their tracks at the scene before them. Mr. Henry was sitting on his couch, which had been turned to face them. Behind him, holding a knife to his throat, was a woman about his age, though the faint trace of a smile seemed younger. The skin around the mouth was a paler shade than the rest of her, the modification still fresh.

"Ah, Traitors," she said. "I thought that you guys left. I waited for you guys to leave so I could finally meet Trevor. Luckily, it let me know that a portal user would be coming. I have to admit, you guys were quick. I would have rather sealed that portal before any of you got through."

She dragged the flat side of the knife across Trevor Henry's collarbone, and flashed them a smile. "Do you like it? I kept seeing smiles that were better than the last. I know I should have kept Jenna's for Trevor, but how can you deny that this one is better?"

Rylie put her hands up "It's a beautiful smile. I don't think you can do much better. But why are you after Trevor?"

The woman's eyes lit up at the compliment. "I saw him one day. He seemed lonely, like me. I followed him. I imagined us together. I wondered how he would feel when he saw the perfect smile. So I started hunting for it. And then one day, when following him home from work, I noticed him stop at that shop and wave to Jenna. She had such a beautiful smile. I had to have it."

She cackled, "And I was right. Once I took it, Trevor finally looked at me. I smiled at him, letting him see me for the first time, and he . . . ran. It wasn't good enough. Something about me wasn't good enough. So, I had to find a new one. And a new one. I need the perfect one."

The woman was getting frantic, the tension in her voice straining as her grip on the knife tightened. She took a deep breath, and he body relaxed. "And then he went and called you guys. He didn't understand that I'm doing this for him. For love. He told me he loved me so many times in my thoughts, what's wrong with hearing it in real life?"

Mark slowly worked his way toward her, transforming the battering ram back into a coin and sliding it quietly around the room. He held his hands up like Rylie had, "What don't we hear from Trevor? Trevor, how do you feel about . . . sorry, what was you name? Didn't catch it."

She smiled at him again. He had to admit, Modify could pinpoint what they were looking for pretty well. Aside from the situation, it was a beautiful smile. "Lucy," she said.

"Lucy," Mark repeated. "Trevor, how do you feel about Lucy?"

If he could transfer Rylie's finesse power to Mr. Henry in that moment, he absolutely would. He knew Rylie was thinking the exact same thing. Eyes wide with terror coming off of him in crushing waves, Mr. Henry stuttered out, "W-what? She's holding me hostage! She's going to kill me! How do you think I feel?"

Ready to making a quick move if he needed to, Mark was surprised to find that Lucy removed the knife from Mr. Henry's neck. She brought both hands up to her eyes and began sobbing loudly, "I knew it! I knew it! It's still not good enough! I'm still not good enough!"

A dark mist swirled around her body and she screamed, causing the mist to fly out, smashing through the wall with an unbelievable force. She dropped the knife, wiped her eyes, and turned to look at the Traitors, determination on her face.

"I need to find a new smile. I know he likes smiles. It's why he liked Jenna. I'm just not her. But I can be her. I can find dark hair, and longer legs, and green eyes. I can become what you want, Trevor. Pleaser, just give me a chance." She turned to the man who was cowering on the couch, trying to sneak away from the woman. Her eyes glared, and the mist formed around her again. This time, it formed into a chain, latching itself around his legs and disappearing into an unseen part of her.

"You don't get to leave, Trevor. I can become Jenna for you. And you'll get to watch. It's the perfect idea. After month of watching you, you get to watch me. And you'll love me like you loved her!"

"N-no," the man wailed. "G-get aw-way from me!"

Lucy all but growled. She held her hand up to direct another blast of the mist at him, but Mark released the coin from its hiding spot, changing it into a flexible metal that wrapped around her arms before solidifying. Her growl became a screech as she snapped her head toward him, her eyes wide and spiraling.

Mark summoned his hammer and charged at the woman. A shield of black mist met the hammer with a loud clang as Rylie flanked behind her. She took out a small dagger she had and cut at Lucy. The mist managed to see it coming, swiping the knife from Rylie's hand before jutting out and knocking her across the room.

Mark kept up with his hammer. Something about the onslaught required more of Lucy's focus, as the chain around Trevor let go. Lucy screamed as the man ran out of his house, before flying back into it.

"There's something in the way! I can't leave!"

"Why would you want to, Trevor dear?" Lucy said. "You'll learn to love me. Once I get rid of these two, I'm all yours. And you'll get to see how much I'm willing to do."

With her focus on Trevor, Mark lunged at the woman, swinging his hammer and sending her sprawling. The mist cushioned her fall, but the impact left a deep groove in her chest. She looked down at it, before snapping back at him with anger in her eyes.

"Now I have to find a new torso. You asshole."

She charged at him but was met with a tackle from a recovering Rylie who pinner her down. The mist started swirling, but Rylie's hands lit up in a white light, which kept the mist from touching her. The light moved down her arms and up her shoulders, eventually covering the entirety of Rylie's body.

Lucy screamed out in agony as the light from Rylie pushed against the mist before finally containing it and dissipating it completely. Once the mist was gone, Rylie cocked back a glowing fist, striking Lucy across the jaw. Mark could hear the crack, and everything was finally quiet.

Trevor stood up, looking over the unconscious body of Lucy. "Is it over?" he said wearily, before collapsing to the floor.

"Neat trick," Mark said. "Feel any different."

Rylie looked at her arms and down her body, just now realizing the change, "I feel stronger. Faster. There's something else there too. Something wrong. I can't figure out what it is though."

Mark had the metal coin around Lucy's hand form into handcuffs that wrapped around both wrists, then nodded, "That happens. Problem with all these powers. No instruction manual."

A small crackling noise could be heard outside the doorway they were standing by, causing the two of them to glance out that way. Lily must have managed another portal after being taken out, because Jay was standing in the yard, chanting a ritual. The crack got louder before a large shattering noise filled the air.

Jay opened his eyes and looked at Mark, "Hey, man. How'd it go?"

Mark picked up Lucy and carried her out of the house. Lily made another portal to the intake area and took Lucy with her. Jay shook Mark and Rylie's hands, then walked through the portal himself.

Rylie, now not glowing with the ferocity of a thousand white burning suns, cocked her head, "Wait. We have to take another uber?"

Mark laughed, "We're not done here yet. We need to talk to Mr. Henr-Trevor. We need to talk to Trevor."

Rylie wasn't kidding about the upped strength, as she carefully but effortlessly picked up the man, cradling him before laying him down on his couch. They waited for a bit until the man finally came around, looking at them. He jumped up, screaming and swiveling his head to look around his house. Rylie put her hand up.

"She's gone, Trevor. She is in our custody back at the agency. You have nothing to worry about."

Relief filled the air and his body relaxed for the first time since meeting him earlier that day. he smiled meekly at the two of them, "Thank you. I can't believe all of that happened. Poor Jenna. Poor other people too."

Mark nodded, "It's never a good idea to cross that collective if you can help it. Unfortunately, you weren't given that option. She found you on pure happenstance, and it spiraled from there. And for that, I am very sorry."

"You guys are different too. Like her. Why aren't you helping her?"

Mark began to talk, but Rylie took over, her powers working their magic, "There are a lot of us. We come in different forms with different powers, and different motivations. Some are in it for a good time. Some are just trying to be smarter. But some are dangerous, like Lucy. And that's where we come in, Trevor. Our motivation is to protect people from the dangerous ones. And we are pretty damn good at it."

Mark watched as the man took in her words, before nodding. He stood up slowly, still shaking from the day he just had. He shook Mark's hand, then hugged Rylie before showing them to where the front door used to be. They walked down to the end of the neighborhood in silence.

Mark broke it first, "Your powers work offensively and defensively, Rylie. Like mine. Just different material."

"She looked sideways at him, "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all," he said. "However, it is strange. Once of the reasons we partner rookies with veterans is so that the powers formed compliment the other. To have your powers almost mimic mine, that's odd."

"Well, like you said, I don't know the whole thing yet."

He nodded, "This is true. Maybe there's something left to be determined." He sent out a text and a portal appeared next to him moments later.

"Wait a minute," Rylie said, "Why are we always walking if you can just ask for a portal whenever you want."

"Walking is important. Got to stay healthy."

She laughed, "Sometimes, you are the worst." She walked through, Mark quickly behind her. When they walked in to the agency, Lily closed the portal then took off out of the room, grabbing a file from Hanna on her way out.

"Emergency mission. You almost didn't get the portal." Hanna said as she approached, "You two ready to debrief?"